LAUSD Shuts Down Miramonte Elementary School For 2 Days

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Miramonte Elementary School will be closed for two days in the wake of sex crime allegations involving two teachers.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy announced Monday night that 88 teachers and 40 staff members will be replaced when classes resume Thursday.

He told parents that faculty and staff will be reassigned to a site that does not host students, and that many or all may return when the investigation is completed.

In the interim, each classroom will be staffed with a rigorously screened teacher, as well as a psychiatric social worker.

The teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles, says it supports the district’s decision.

Deasy says the district plans to interview every student who has attended the school and every adult who has worked there.

The investigation, he says, will be overseen by an independent commission chaired by a former California Supreme Court associate justice.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s lieutenant told parents the months-long investigation process was initially kept quiet, as authorities did not want to taint potential victims and witnesses by making information public.

Parents were assured however that Mark Berndt, a 30-year Los Angeles Unified School District veteran, was removed from the classroom as soon as the alleged crimes were discovered.

Berndt was arrested Jan. 30 and charged with 23 counts of lewd acts on a child. He was removed from the classroom one year prior.

Berndt, 61, reportedly took an estimated 300 photos of students bound, gagged and blindfolded in his classroom between 2008 and 2010. Some photos show cockroaches being placed on the students’ faces. Others are being fed a milky-white substance on a spoon that officials say tested positive for the teacher’s DNA.

Fellow Miramonte teacher Martin Springer, 49, was arrested Friday after two of his former students told police they were fondled in his classroom. Springer, who is being held on $2 million bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

The district is also scheduled to discuss his firing Tuesday at another closed-door meeting.

LAUSD should not interview the staff from Miramonte, law enforcement should. Uncovering information about sex crimes against children is a tricky business and it should be handled appropriately. Not all staff is guilty of this crime but there might be more witness information they can provide.

How vigorously is LAUSD checking the background of all staff in its district? How many administrators are ignoring complaints from children?

While background checks are essential, there is one glaring problem with them. They are only informative if the applicant got caught. They can be guilty of all types of cri mes, but if they never get caught, they will have a clean background.

its says “why should good teachers ,pay for bad teachers”, well the time involved for these crimes is unbelieavable i guess you should be more aware of whats going on with your students, replace them all

ok…… so if they replace all the staff at Miramonte — whats to say that some of those staff members who havent been caught yet are in that bunch leaving the school ….. wouldnt that be just moving the problem to another school???